


I Want to Save You

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Barry is the Hunger, Canon-Typical Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, F/M, Lup learned Parley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 23:26:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: He was the Hunger. He was dark and cold and had killed a billion people or more.She was her family's last best hope to get answers. She was bright and open and wanted to save every world they found.She met the Hunger and now? Now she wanted to save him too.





	I Want to Save You

Parley allows you to summon any entity into an extra-dimensional space that you create. And in this room, you are able to communicate with your visitor and discuss terms of peace and sort of learn about your potential foe and in this place, sort of come to an understanding with them. Lup knew that. She knew that like she knew her own name, like she knew Taako. What she hadn’t known, hadn’t expected, was what that sort of understanding could become.

* * *

  
The first time she entered that space, she opened her eyes on a library. It had seemed so odd, so normal. It was quiet, with plush chairs and a large desk. A moment later, there was a man there as well. She had been expecting someplace that dripped with darkness and shadows, something like a dungeon. She had been expecting a monster. She found a nervous man with glasses and bluejeans.  
  
“Uh... Hail and well met, my dude.”  
  
He opened his mouth and nothing happened. Then he cleared his throat and tried again.  
  
“Okay. Okay, this is- this is new. Were you the one that brought me here? Where- where are we right now?”  
  
Lup looked him over, searching for weaknesses and also trying to figure out if this was somehow an illusion. Could you project an illusion in Parley? He looked so soft and gentle. She had to keep reminding herself that this man, the Hunger, had killed billions of people. That everyone and everything she had ever known other than the six other people on the Starblaster had been eaten by this...thing.  
  
“It’s...a magic thing. Like a demi-plane? I’m just here to like...talk. Get to know you, you know?”  
  
He adjusted his glasses, pausing to stare at his hands for a moment.  
  
“Huh... I didn’t... I didn’t know there was a spell for that.”  
  
For a moment, there was silence and Lup started moving towards one of the chairs.  
  
“So... What should I call you?”  
  
He didn’t sit, didn’t move from where he was standing. He just kept looking around the room as though seeing everything for the first time, as though this was a place he had been once and longed to be again.  
  
“Barry. I’m...Barry.”  
  
Lounging across the chair in the least dignified way possible, Lup looked up at him.  
  
“Barry. Well, it’s uh... I mean, I can’t exactly say nice to meet you, but you know. It’s a thing, I guess. I’m Lup.”  
  
He nodded slowly.  
  
“Lup... Well, Lup, I hope you got whatever you wanted out of this.”  
  
Then he raised his hand and she screamed as the bolt of darkness hit her solidly.

* * *

  
Lup reformed. They always reformed. Taako had his hand on her arm, just like always. Just like every cycle when she’d died, he turned and pulled her into a hug. It was like he thought that if he held her close enough, she wouldn’t die on him again. Lup hoped her brother would forgive her, because there was no way she wasn’t going to do that again.  
  
“Well, what’d you learn, Lup?”  
  
The whole rest of the crew was looking at her expectantly. Taking a breath, Lup moved so she was holding Taako’s hand but facing her captain.  
  
“There was a man in there, a human. His name was Barry and... Fuck, you guys, he’s a nerd. I don’t know what else to say. He was just like...a dude in jeans with glasses and like... He was fucking normal.”  
  
There was silence for a beat and then people began talking about. They needed a plan. They needed to do something. They needed more information. Lup squeezed her brother’s hand and then turned to Magnus.  
  
“Hey, Maggie? Take care of Taako for me, alright?”  
  
Then she pulled out of Taako’s grip and walked towards one of the windows where she could see out. This world looked bright, hopeful. She hoped everyone else would enjoy it. Then she closed her eyes and entered the Parley again. 

* * *

  
It was the library again. She sat in one of the chairs and waited. A moment later, he sat down across from her, a curious look on his face. Then he leaned forward and spoke.  
  
“Sorry about that last time. I just... I just needed to know. You know, if you were real, if I could leave. Stuff like that. How um... How did you survive? I mean, I thought... you should’ve died.”  
  
His tone was almost idle, mostly curious. Lup felt distinctly uncomfortable at how flippant this man was about having killed her.  
  
“It’s this thing we’ve got going. You show up, we run, sometimes we die, then we get better.”  
  
She tried to keep her own tone light, casual. Maybe he was like a lion or something and a show of confidence would make him back down.  
  
“That’s...That’s actually pretty cool. Is it like a healing effect or more like a... a... a necromantic sort of thing? Are you uh... actually alive or more like... a construct sort of...thing?”  
  
He looked so damn excited, stumbling over his words and fidgeting like he wanted to reach out and see for himself what she was made of. Lup shook her head, a smile starting to take shape on her face.  
  
“You’re a fucking nerd, aren’t you?”  
  
He pulled back and she regretted her words. Quickly, she tried to backpedal.  
  
“Barry, my dude, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m like...the science officer on our ship. I mean, I specialize more in the arcane shit but I know my way around a physics equation. Yes, I’m alive. No, I’m not a construct. Not necromancy as far as I know and I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed?”

There was a long moment of silence and then Barry looked at her, his face entirely serious.  
  
“Lup, why are you doing this?”  
  
“I told you. I want to get to know you better and-”  
  
He stood up fast.  
  
“You’re _lying_. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing any of this? Why are you here? Why are you being nice to me?”  
  
Lup pulled back in her chair, almost trying to get away from him. Then she glared up at him.  
  
“Look, fine, I wanted to figure you out. Like the big spooky black plane-eating you. You keep fucking killing my family, so I wanted to know what the hell was going on in here and then you’re...you’re... this! And I’m being nice because I’m not an asshole!”  
  
Barry looked at her uncertainly and then raised his hand again. Lup met his eyes, holding him like that for a moment. Then she smiled sadly as the bolt left his hand.  
  
“See you next year, Barry.” 

* * *

  
Taako grabbed Lup by the shoulders, shaking her almost roughly. There were tears in his eyes as he looked at her.  
  
“Lup, you need to stop this.”  
  
She shook her head, pulling away from him. Then she shoved her brother hard.  
  
“I’m doing this for you, Koko. So we can find a way to end this.”  
  
He tried to grab her arm, tried to keep her from going again, but Taako couldn’t. Lup closed her eyes and she was gone again.

* * *

“S’up, Barry.”

She dropped into one of the chairs at the table, a deck of cards appearing in front of her. With a sigh, Barry dropped into the seat opposite her.  
  
“You know, I didn’t think you’d come back.”  
  
She shrugged, shuffling the cards and not really looking at him.  
  
“Yeah, well. Couldn’t just like...break my promise, you know? You play cards?”  
  
Barry actually smiled at that.  
  
“Yeah, I uh...I’m pretty good at blackjack.”  
  
Lup grinned and started dealing cards.  
  
“Cool. I’ll deal. But like... Let’s talk and maybe...not kill each other this time, cool?”  
  
He chuckled quietly and reached for his cards.  
  
“Yeah, sure. So, let me guess, you want to know how to stop me, right?”  
  
His tone was dry, almost sarcastic. Lup sighed a little.  
  
“I mean, yeah? My dude, you’re like...killing people. That’s not cool.”  
  
Barry tilted his head to the side and took off his glasses, wiping them on his shirt. For a long moment, he didn’t say anything. Then he put his glasses back on and looked at her.  
  
“They’re not dead. They’re in here.”  
  
“We’re going just put that on the list of the creepiest things you’ve said yet, my dude. Like... You seem like a really nice guy and then you go all grimdark creeper. Why not just chill?”  
  
Barry looked down.  
  
“You should leave.”  
  
Lup ignored him and dealt out another hand.  
  
“You won that one. We should have some like...chips or something. Keep track of the score and stuff.”  
  
“I’m serious, Lup, you should leave. This... this whole thing. It’s not safe and you shouldn’t be here and... and...”  
  
Lup leaned forward, giving him a hard look.  
  
“Are you threatening me or like...?”  
  
“Warning. I’m...I’m not...not safe, Lup.” He took off his glasses, throwing them down on the table. For a moment, he just sat there with his head in his hands. “I killed you. I keep killing you. Why do you keep coming back?”  
  
Lup hesitated and reached for his glasses.  
  
“Because I want to save them. The people in there.” She paused, checking his glasses to make sure they hadn’t broken. “And you too, Barry.”  
  
He reached out and took his glasses back from her, putting them back on with a shaky smile.  
  
“That’d be new. Someone wanting to save me, I mean.”  
  
Lup met his eyes, her expression stubborn.  
  
“I will. Watch me.”  
  
Barry gave her a smile and raised his hand, the darkness already coalescing around it.  
  
“I hope so, Lup. I hope so.”  
  
For a brief moment after she died before him once again, Barry Bluejeans felt something. It wasn’t the cold and loneliness that had been his world since he became this. It was something else, something warm. He wished she was still here. Then he closed his eyes and the darkness came.

 

* * *

  
“Hey Barry, do you play an instrument?”  
  
Lup laid on the tight woven carpet of the library floor, staring up at the this man. It was so hard now to think of him as the Hunger. He was such a goofball when she got him going. Like now, when he was looking at her with this shy little grin on his face. She just wanted to wrap her arms around him and take him far away from all of this.  
  
“Uh...yeah, actually. I uh... I sort of... I play a little piano.”  
  
Sometimes, Lup thought it was so weird that he’d gotten more nervous around her as time passed instead of less. But at least he was less inclined to blast her within the first few minutes of their conversation. That had to count for something.  
  
“Sweet! Let’s get one of those in here. Like a grand piano or more of a keyboard sort of set up?”  
  
She scrambled to her feet, already working on reshaping the space with her mind.  
  
“Like a grand piano, I guess? They... you know... they play the same. So...”  
  
Lup went and sat on the cover of the piano, gesturing towards the bench. Barry ducked his head, smiling as he walked over and took a seat. Then he looked up at her, something in his dark eyes that Lup couldn’t quite read.  
  
“Do you play?”  
  
“Piano? Fuck no. But I do play a pretty sweet violin.”  
  
“I’d like to hear that. If you want to, I mean.”  
  
Lup held out her hands and a violin settled into them. When she spoke, her tone was softer than it had been.  
  
“Absolutely, Barry.” 

* * *

  
Lup kept trying. She kept trying until the day she didn’t remember, until the day that she was looking out at a world and didn’t remember that it wasn’t her home. And the Hunger hunted. Then everything changed again. One drink and the memories flooded back. Taako, her brother. Starblaster. Home. Barry. She remembered her promise in that moment and her chest tightened. Taako was yelling something. Transmuting the glass. Astral Plane.  
  
“Yeah, go for it, Koko!”  
  
But she wasn’t really listening. Lup had a promise she had to keep, a promise that made her heart pound in her chest. She didn’t even have to close her eyes, it was almost as though that space called to her. Lup burst into the library, her eyes darting around. It wasn’t anything like the place she remembered. Everything was made of the Hunger now. Walls, floor, ceiling. Even Barry’s piano was nothing but the Hunger.  
  
“Barry!”  
  
She called his name and then gasped as she saw him step forward. He was riddled with cracks, the darkness and splashes of color that she knew as the Hunger twisting and writhing through him. Lup closed the distance between them and grabbed his shoulders.  
  
“Barry, what the fuck happened to you? You’re...you’re...”  
  
He gave her a shaky smile.  
  
“Hey, Lup. I...I... I didn’t think... I thought...maybe you’d finally listened... That you weren’t coming back.”  
  
She shook her head, tears in her eyes.  
  
“I promised, didn’t I? I don’t break promises. Not if I can help it.”  
  
He took a shaky breath.  
  
“Lup... I... I don’t... I don’t wanna do this anymore, Lup.”  
  
She looked up into his eyes, trying to ignore the swirling colors.  
  
“What do I do, Barry?”  
  
He closed his eyes for a moment, then he moved back a little, taking a long look at her. Lup felt oddly exposed under his gaze and a blush rose to her cheeks. Then he nodded.  
  
“How much do you know about planar theory?”  
  
Before she could open her mouth, eyes began to open in the ceiling. Then the walls. Barry seemed to go paler and he looked at her, terrified.  
  
“Lup... Break the bonds, Lup. Please, just... just remember that!”  
  
In a split second decision, Lup dove forward, tackling Barry before the lance of darkness from the wall connected with him. They both rolled across the floor and then she grabbed his hand.  
  
“Trust me, Barry.”  
  
The words came out in a rush and were followed hard and fast by the incantation to a spell she’d learned but never cast. It had never seemed all that useful, but she was glad now that she knew it. As the Planar Shift took hold of them both, Barry screamed. The Hunger didn’t want to let go of what belong to it. But Lup was stubborn. She held on as tight as she could and dropped a fireball on top of them, shaping it to avoid their forms but clear as much of the space around them as she could. She just needed a break long enough to-

* * *

They snapped into the world and Barry gasped as the air hit him. It was warm. He was warm. Lup was still holding his hand. She turned then, breathing hard but grinning like an idiot.

“I fucking told you.” Then she looked up and saw the darkness still swirling over them. “Come on, we still need to figure out how to kill that.”  
  
They were still holding hands. Lup and Barry got to their feet, looking around at the battlefield. And they were still holding hands.  
  
“I think I can help with that.”  
  
Barry smiled at her, really smiled, and Lup tried to pretend she wasn’t blushing. She gave his hand a little squeeze and looked up towards where the rest of her family was gathered. Things had been rough for a minute there, sure, but now? Now Lup was sure they could win.


End file.
